Wife Nap: The Final Chapter
by bored-now0809
Summary: The final part of the Wife-Nap trilogy!  Please read parts 1 and 2 prior to this one.  Ardeth and Jana's life together continues...with a little surprise from an unexpected encounter.


**AN: Standard disclaimer applies- I own nothing!**

**First off, I'd like to thanks everyone for their great support on this series. It has really meant a lot! This part took me a lot longer to write than I planned. A lot has happened in life since I started the wife-nap series and then it was really hard to write this semi-reunion chapter and end the series on an up-note. Hopefully I accomplished that and ****you'll all like this as a conclusion to the Wife-Nap Trilogy!**

**On a side note- everytime I type "wife-nap" or read it when proofing these stories...I giggle. I couldn't think of a interesting Med-Jai like name for it so just went with "wife-nap"...I hope it cracks you up as much as it does me!**

OOOOooooOOOO

**Worlds Collide**

"Me, Baba! Lift me!"

Jana looked up from her place by the well back towards where her husband was playing with part of their brood of children. She smiled as Ardeth lifted their youngest, two year old Suleiman, into the air and the toddler squealed in delight.

"My turn! My turn!" Seven year old Aaliyah yelled impatiently tugging on her father's robes.

"Be patient, my little flower." Ardeth replied and was rewarded by Aaliyah's stubborn pout as she flopped down into the sand at her Father's feet. Ardeth tossed Suleiman into the air before catching the laughing boy and sitting down with his daughter. Jana smiled again as he chucked Aaliyah under her chin causing her pout to melt away. He then leaned back and allowed both children to rough house with him.

"Mama! Come see what we found!"

Jana turned to see her twin sons, Umar and Yousef, peeking out from around the side of their tent. She shuddered at some of their past discoveries- a dead snake, a camel's skull, and even a bee's nest once. But she couldn't help but smile when she looked at them. They looked so much like their father; it was almost as though she had a photograph of Ardeth at that age. Her other two children looked more like her- Aaliyah looked just as she had at seven and Suleiman was the spitting image of her brother. She absently wondered who the new baby would look like. Although only a few months along, she was already starting to show.

She thought back to the sketchbook that Ardeth had presented her with after a trip to Cairo the year before. She had almost filled it up in the short time that she had had it with pictures of the children, Ardeth, and even her in-laws. She knew that once her sons were all grown up and had their markings and her daughter was married and grown, she would treasure the pictures of them as children even more. But, at times it made her think of her old life- the book that she had left behind in the tomb at the Valley of the Kings when Ardeth had first taken her. She shivered a bit and shrugged the old melancholy feelings off.

"What have you two been poking into today?" She asked with a good natured smile. Today was the last day before Ardeth had to leave on patrol and she didn't want anything, even one of their "interesting discoveries", to spoil their time together.

"Something good this time!" Umar said happily. Yousef nodded seriously.

"You'll like it for sure." He added.

Jana stood up and lifted her large jar, now filled with water, carefully. She moved slowly back to their family tent.

"Give me a moment my darlings. I need to take this into the house." She paused in her walk and gave the twins an assessing look, inwardly pleased when they both wriggled a little nervously. "It's not going to crawl away, will it?"

"Of course not!" Yousef said outraged. "I _said_ you would _like_ it." He huffed a bit and Jana grinned at him.

"I will be only a minute." As soon as she put the water down, she went out to look at what her sons had found. She glanced over to where Ardeth was sitting with the other two children and saw that they were both sitting on his lap as he told them a story.

"Finally!" Umar exclaimed and both twins grabbed hold of her hands. They dragged her back around the corner with all the excitement five year olds could manage. She allowed them to lead her without protest. She was a little alarmed when they dragged her a bit away from the Med-Jai encampment. She would definitely need to have a word with them about wandering into the desert.

"Here it is!" Yousef called out and they both stopped, releasing her hands. Jana blinked and looked to where they were pointing.

"It's a flower." Umar explained to his mother and she smiled at them surprised. She leaned down to give them both a kiss on the tops of their heads and they grinned back at her pleased.

"This is a very rare thing out here, my loves. Why don't you get your father, Aaliyah, and Suleiman so they can see it too?" They both nodded in excitement and ran off to get the rest of the family.

Jana watched them go and soon she saw them leading a curious Ardeth carrying their youngest as Aaliyah trailed slightly behind. Jana could tell, even from a distance, that Aaliyah did not like her time with her father interrupted by her brothers.

"There she is!" Umar said and he ran the rest of the way back to Jana, before lunging at her and hugging her around her waist. She stumbled back a step, laughing, as Yousef and Aaliyah followed their brother's example. Ardeth soon reached them and allowed Suleiman, who was reaching for Jana, to be transferred into his mother's arms. Ardeth kissed her on the cheek.

"Now what was it that the boys were talking about?" He asked smiling. He too loved the time when all of them could be together like this. He was looking forward to the upcoming expansion to their little family as well. Although, seeing how much the births were wearing his wife down, he thought that this should be their last child.

"Look Baba! Look what Umar and I found." Yousef said happily, grinning and pointing at the flower. Ardeth looked where his son was pointing and smiled.

"A desert bloom! The sign of a good omen." Ardeth said and leaned down to stroke the petal of the flower that was just peeking out from the sand.

"Perhaps this means a quiet patrol?" Jana murmured and Ardeth straightened up to kiss her cheek again.

"Perhaps, beloved. It is always my wish for that to be true." He answered, taking Suleiman back from her arms. The boy happily went to his father and began examining his face, squishing his father's nose and patting his beard curiously. Ardeth chuckled at his son's antics. Suleiman was a quiet child, who seemed to be curious about everything around him. In fact, all of his children had an innate sense of curiosity that he felt they had inherited from their mother and her family.

"Can we take the flower back to our home?" Aaliyah asked. Ardeth saw his three other children lying on their stomachs, eyes fixed on the flower and his wife kneeling beside them.

"Yes. Tonight is our leaving meal and Fatima and Rashid will be joining us with Abdul. I think that it would look lovely as the centerpiece." The children jumped up happily and he ruffled Umar and Yousef's hair. "A good find, my sons. This will surely lighten all our hearts before our journey tomorrow."

The boys became slightly more subdued at that thought, but were soon distracted by their mother plucking the flower and leading them back to their home in a grand procession of honor.

**OOOOooooOOOOO**

Ardeth shook off the thoughts of home as he surveyed the desert before him. They had been on the patrol for about three weeks and were on the top of the cliff overlooking the City of the Dead- Hamunaptra. Ardeth sighed. Although it was only five years ago that the O'Connells had raised and subsequently defeated the creature, he still had an unsettled feeling when he came to Hamunaptra. Perhaps it was because he was the only Med-Jai commander to fail in their duty and allow the creature to rise; or maybe it was because he felt the story of Imhotep and Anuk-su-namun had not yet come to an end; that it would be his duty to defeat them again. But looking down at the city today, he saw that there were once again people down there disturbing the Ancient resting site.

"Shall we attack now?" Rashid asked from Ardeth's right side, his hand already resting on the hilt of his scimitar. Ardeth debated for a moment, noticing that the dig was not taking place close to where the creature was resting.

"No. We shall wait until night falls. Then they will be tired from working in the sun." He nodded to the men. "Make camp and we shall prepare for battle tonight."

The Med-Jai all nodded, none of them wanted to wage an attack in the brutal heat of the day. They rode slightly down the ridge, out of sight of the diggers, and set up shelters to protect them from the sun while they rested.

"I shall take first watch." Rashid said as the rest rode down the ledge. Ardeth nodded at him and made his way down after the men.

The men were quiet, going about their individual pursuits. Some sharpened their weapons in preparation for the upcoming fight and some dozed under the tents. Others sat and told stories of past glory to help relieve the tension. Soon, the sun had set and they were remounting their horses, lined up on the ridge once more.

"They still are not digging near the creature's resting place." Rashid informed Ardeth as they both cantered to the ridge. "The guards all said that the party has primarily been digging by the statue of Horus." Ardeth nodded.

"Perhaps this shall be over quickly." Ardeth replied. Then he turned to the men. "Med-Jai! It is time to once again perform our sacred duty!"

And with a thundering of hooves, the Med-Jai descended on the camp below, the camp fires making their targets easy to find. Some of the archeological team had gone to bed, but the noise from the Med-Jai's horses had them blearily stumbling out of their tents. Ardeth swung his scimitar cutting the rope supporting one of the tents and causing it to collapse. Several of the Med-Jai fired their weapons into the air. Some of the party started to fight back and were quickly dispatched by the Med-Jai.

"Stop!" Ardeth called out from his place in the center of the camp. "We have not come to slaughter you, but to warn you. This place is cursed! Leave this place at once! You have one night!" He was about to turn and lead the Med-Jai back up to the cliffs, but suddenly a voice rang out over the crowd.

"You! You took my sister!" Ardeth turned sharply at the sound of a gun being cocked and felt a bullet graze his shoulder. He looked in astonishment at Jana's brother.

The Med-Jai who had been retreating took the attack to their leader very seriously and began to move in to kill the one who had tried to take their leader's life. Ardeth was momentarily stunned into inaction, staring at Joey- who one of his children was named after. Staring at him, he could see even more clearly that his youngest son would look just like the young man who was currently glaring at him intently and was about to be stabbed by a Med-Jai warrior. Ardeth leapt from his horse and tackled Joey to the ground. Ardeth didn't have any time to think as Joey began to struggle against him.

"My Lord!" A young warrior called out as he moved to assist his chief.

"No Shariff, help the others." Ardeth grunted as he struggled with the younger man. Shariff nodded and moved away, allowing Ardeth to focus all his attention on fighting his brother-in-law.

"Where is she, you bastard!" Joey snarled, managing to land a solid right hook to Ardeth's left eye. Ardeth grit his teeth but did not answer, focusing on subduing his attacker rather than hurting the other man. His silence merely seemed to enrage Joey all the more. "Or don't you even remember? Was she just one of many women that you…you…"

At that accusation, Ardeth felt his own ire raise and he mounted a stronger counterattack. He lost track of all else except the battle going on between him and Joey. Soon, he was able to subdue his brother-in-law. When Ardeth looked up, he realized that all around him the sounds of the battle had ceased, all the other members of the archeological team were dead. Ardeth frowned.

"Ardeth, what shall we do with this one?" Rashid asked coming forward to where Ardeth knelt while the rest of the men scavenged the team's supplies for items to take back to their camp. Ardeth stood pulling Joey with him.

"He comes with us Rashid." Ardeth said and gestured to a passing warrior for a length of rope. At Rashid's flummoxed look, Ardeth sighed. "He is Jana's brother."

"Ah." Rashid said and studied the young man in front of him, instantly noticing the resemblance between him and Ardeth's son Suleiman. Rashid nodded and walked away. He did not envy Ardeth's position; he and Jana had been so happy the past several years, Rashid expected that this could change everything. Ardeth tied Joey's hands behind his back and moved him over to a horse.

"Mount the horse." Ardeth said and Joey mumbled under his breath but made no move to mount up. Ardeth pushed Joey into the horse and allowed him to drop to his knees. "I said, mount the horse. I will not ask again."

"Then what will you do? Kill me, like my sister?" Joey asked in a bitter tone, turning his head part way around so that he could glare at Ardeth. Ardeth's frown deepened.

"I did not kill your sister. I am taking you to her." The two men glared at each other before Joey eventually submitted and started to mount the horse, Ardeth helping him since his hands were tied. Ardeth used some more of the rope to make a lead from the horse's bridle and guided it over to his own horse, tying the two together so that Joey could not escape. Ardeth mounted his own horse.

"Ardeth! We've finished here." Rashid said riding up to his leader. He glanced at Joey and raised his eyebrows at Ardeth; he had been hoping that Ardeth would change his mind. Ardeth merely shrugged in return.

"There is no other course that I can take." He told his second in command and Rashid nodded. "Imshi!" Ardeth called out loud enough so that the rest of the Med-Jai could hear and they quickly turned their horses around and thundered through the desert towards home and their families.

During the ride back to the camp, Ardeth couldn't help but wonder if he was taking the right action, bringing Joey back with him to the Med-Jai camp. Maybe it would've been better if he had allowed Shariff to kill the young man; perhaps he shouldn't have interfered. Or he could have let him find his way back to Luxor through the desert. Ardeth shook his head at his thoughts. The right path was never the easiest one; he could never have looked his wife in the eye again if he had let her brother die through either his own actions or inaction. He sighed, it would be three more days to get home and Ardeth figured that he would change his mind about his decision every second of the journey.

"So, where are you taking me?" Joey asked.

"I told you, I am taking you to see your sister." Ardeth answered, his calm voice not betraying his inner turmoil. Joey snorted.

"Sure." He replied sarcastically. "Is that just some way of saying that you're going to take me out into the Sahara and kill me?" Ardeth ignored him and Joey returned the favor by ignoring Ardeth.

Although they were still due to be out on patrol for another week, Ardeth was sure the elders- his father especially- would understand the need to curtail the patrol. He glanced briefly at his brother-in-law riding sullenly beside him and sighed. It was going to be a long ride home.

**OOOOOooooOOOOO**

Jana sat with Suleiman in the sand playing with a wooden camel that Ardeth had made for him; it was Suleiman's favorite toy. He laughed and clapped his hands as his mother made the camel walk through the sand. They continued to play until they were interrupted by the three older children running over with Abdul, Rashid and Fatima's son.

"I'm a fearsome Med-Jai warrior!" Yousef yelled chasing his sister and Abdul with his twin on his heels.

"No! You're a pain is what you are!" Aaliyah returned. "Moooomm! Make them stop! Abdul and I were playing and they interrupted us."

"Tattle tale." Umar muttered under his breath, but loud enough so that all present could hear.

"Besides, why would Abdul want to play with you?" Yousef said making a face at his sister. Aaliyah glared angrily at her brother.

"Abdul was my friend first!" She yelled back, grabbing the boy in question's hand. He looked a bit bemused by the argument. Umar snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Only because you're older!"

"Children! Stop it this instant!" Jana yelled at them standing up and lifting Suleiman so he rested on her hip. "Yousef, Umar, why don't you let your sister play with Abdul? Or play a game that doesn't involve you chasing them around trying to kill them?"

"But Mom! That's our favorite game!" Yousef protested.

"Well, why don't you let Abdul and Aaliyah be the fearsome warriors and you two the ones who are trying to awaken the creature?" She asked with raised eyebrows. Both her sons looked shocked at her suggestion, while Aaliyah looked a bit smug.

"Yes, let's play that way!" She said and took a step towards her brothers.

"But Mom!" Umar protested. Jana smiled.

"It's only fair Umar." The twins shared a dark look, but soon their argument was interrupted by the sound of hooves on the sand and people calling out to greet the returning warriors.

"It's Dad!" Abdul shouted, spotting his father right away from within the crowd of warriors. Abdul was generally a quiet child, who was a constant companion of Jana's own loud, outspoken brood. Jana grinned, spotting Ardeth among the crowd.

"Come children, we must go greet your father!" And all of them ran off. The children soon outpaced their mother, as she was still very pregnant and carrying Suleiman. Soon they had reached their father and were jumping around him and hugging his legs. Jana reached him and gave him a smiling kiss. "You're home early!" She exclaimed and kissed him again. Ardeth gave her a tense smile, causing her to frown.

"Something happened on patrol." Ardeth said in a hesitant voice, causing Jana's frown to deepen. It had been years since he had used that tone with her; it usually meant he was uncertain about her feelings towards him. She set Suleiman down and he joined his siblings in frolicking around their parents legs.

"What is it?" She searched his eyes trying to find what had happened to cause these emotions. Ardeth did not answer but merely stepped aside and pointed back to where a prisoner sat on top of a horse looking around the camp skeptically. Suddenly, the prisoner looked over to where they were standing and his mouth dropped open.

"Jenny!" He called out and tried to dismount and move to her, even though his hands were still tied behind his back. He ended up falling in the sand beside his horse.

"Joey?" She whispered and looked to Ardeth for confirmation. At his nod, she fainted dead away, Ardeth barely managing to catch her before she too fell hard on the sand. Joey struggled to move towards his sister and her abductor.

"Mama! What's wrong?" Aaliyah called rushing to her mother, the other children following their older sister's lead. Joey's face darkened as he saw all the children rush around his sister, calling her Mama.

"You bastard! What did you do to my sister?" He hissed at Ardeth before lunging at him, only to be stopped by Rashid who was standing nearby. Suleiman began to cry.

"Rashid, take him back to my father's tent, I must get Jana and the children back to our home." Ardeth said. Rashid nodded and began to pull Joey back towards Basir Bey's tent, even though Joey struggled the whole way to get free and attack Ardeth. His struggles only redoubled when he said the Med-Jai warrior lift his sister into his arms and carry her off in a different direction.

"That's my sister!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. Many of the Med-Jai watched on impassively. Some remembered how hard it had been for their chief's wife to adjust to the camp when she was first taken away from her family. This had never happened before in the centuries that the Med-Jai wife-nap had occurred. Soon Rashid and Joey reached Basir and Taisha's home.

"Rashid! How lovely to see you, although a bit earlier than we had expected." Taisha said and then her eyebrows rose when she took in the bound young man with Rashid. "And who is this?"

"Jana's brother." Rashid answered on a sigh. "He's the reason we came home early." Taisha shook her head and a worried look came over her face.

"Does Jana know that he's here?" She asked worriedly and Rashid nodded.

"She fainted and Ardeth asked that we bring him in here." Joey had his eyes narrowed, his head swiveling between the two as they spoke in a language he didn't understand. He could speak Arabic, but the language of the Med-Jai was more of a combination of Hebrew and Ancient Egyptian. Although he was talented in languages, he had never heard anything like it before. Taisha offered him a hesitant smile and switched to English.

"We welcome you here, young sir." She said to him and he nodded his head.

"Thank-you for your welcome, but I do not intend to stay long." He paused with a frown. "As soon as I can, I intend to take my sister and leave this place; back to our home." His frown deepened when his words caused a sad look to come over Taisha's face.

"I'm afraid that cannot happen." She said at last and he started at the simplicity of her response.

"What? Of course it can! That man took my sister from me- from my parents- and used her as if she was a breeding mare to spawn his-" He was cut off as Ardeth walked into the room. "You! Where's Jenny!" He began to struggle anew in Rashid's grip.

"Calm yourself." Ardeth said and his calmness just seemed to enrage the young man even more. "I would appreciate it if you would not speak to my mother in such a manner."

"Oh, you'd appreciate it, would you? I would've appreciated it if my sister hadn't been taken from me eight years ago!" Joey hissed.

"Ardeth!" Basir Bey called as he came back into the tent. He looked at the bound young man in their midst and sighed. "It is true then. What does Jana say?" Basir asked.

"She fainted. Fatima is with her and the children." Ardeth replied with a nod in Rashid's direction.

"Who's Jana?" Joey asked a bit angrily. Did this man take his sister as a concubine and this Jana person was his real wife? Ardeth could read those thoughts on Joey's face as clearly as if he had spoken them aloud. He reined in his temper, thinking how upset he would be if the situation was reversed.

"Jana is your sister. We call her Jana here." Ardeth answered sharply. This merely caused Joey to frown; he had no response. "She will want to talk to you when she wakes. Come."

**OOOOOooooOOOOOO**

Jana woke up as the sun was fading from the sky, her head pounding and body sore. She rolled over a bit and wondered what it was that put her so out of sorts. She glanced over at Ardeth's side of the bed and frowned when he wasn't there. Her thoughts soon caught up with her and she sat up quickly in bed, bringing a hand to her head as all the blood rushed too fast to her brain.

"You're awake then." She turned to the side and saw her brother sitting there. He had a book on his lap and with a fair amount of surprise; she saw that it was her old sketchbook. The one that she had lost in the Valley of the Kings. She leaned up to glance over the edge of the book and realized that it was on the last picture that she drawn- an unfinished rendering of the ceiling in the tomb of Ramses IV.

"You're really here!" She exclaimed and moved to get out of bed, but he forestalled her.

"You should stay put." He got up and moved to sit on the side of her bed, gently pushing her back down. "You look like you could use the rest." He added a touch bitterly. Jana gave him a half-hearted smile.

"I thought that I had dreamed it…I can't believe that you're here." She murmured. He snorted.

"I can't believe that _you're_ here!" He exclaimed and they both began to laugh a little bit hysterically. He leaned over to hug her as their laughter faded. "I thought you were _dead_. We went back home and…well…we had a funeral."

"I wanted to tell you…you know, about my life here." Jana said with tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you?" He asked, pulling away. She bit her lip.

"I didn't know what to write." She said at last. He sighed and moved back over to the seat he had been sitting on before. They sank into an awkward silence.

"Why did you come back to Egypt?" Jana asked to break the silence.

"I don't know. I guess that I had the hope that I would find the people who took you and get my revenge. Or maybe I'd somehow find you." He shrugged. "So, when a friend called me about a dig he was going on, I jumped at the chance to go." He replied.

"And now you've found me." She muttered.

"Yes. And now, we can go home." He said.

"I can't just go with you! I can't leave without looking back! I have a life here- a family!" She cried upset.

"A family! And what am I?" Joey hissed standing up as his anger grew. "I was your family first and now you're just going to turn your back on that? Your brother and your parents? They _stole_ you!" He took a deep breath and turned away from his sister. They stood in silence, Joey looking down at the ground and Jana with tears streaming down her face. "I don't understand you." He muttered.

"I can't explain it." She replied hesitantly. "I just know that I can't leave."

"Can't or won't?" He asked with a bitter voice. She looked up and he was surprised at the pain in her gaze; from their discourse so far, he thought that she hadn't been feeling any of the pain that he did.

"Can't." She managed to choke out before tears rolled down her face and she was soon crying in earnest. Joey moved to embrace his sister and she readily went into his embrace. "I just don't know what to do."

"We'll figure something out." Joey comforted her. He reached over and passed her the sketchbook. "Here, I guess I can give this back to you now." He said with a forced grin. She smiled up at him and passed it back.

"Thank-you." She said and they sat together quietly for a moment.

"You know," Joey said breaking their companionable silence. "You have a bit of an accent now." She pulled away with an annoyed look on her face, only to meet her brother's smirk. Reaching behind her, she grabbed a pillow and hit him with it.

"Jerk." She muttered, but was only met with laughs. Jana could feel her lips twitch in response and she tried her hardest not laugh, but it was impossible to hold back for long.

**OOOOOoooooOOOOOO**

Later that night, Ardeth came back to the tent. He had waited until he was sure that Joey had been taken back to his parents' home before he came in. It seemed that his very presence made any sense of reasonableness or calmness disappear for Joey and Ardeth didn't want Jana upset anymore, especially in her present state. He glanced around and noticed that the children were already in bed. When he went into his room, he thought at first that Jana was asleep, but she soon proved to be awake.

"Ardeth, I just don't know what to do." Jana whispered to her husband as he climbed into bed beside her that night.

"Shh, beloved. Don't worry; we'll figure something out." Ardeth said kissing her forehead. Jana smiled as she moved further into his embrace. If only her brother could see how wonderful her husband was.

"I can't leave you, but I fear that my brother won't leave here without me." She said as they snuggled together. Ardeth stroked her arm, part of his fears laid to rest as he realized that his wife wasn't even thinking about leaving the life that they had together.

"Perhaps if he was to stay here for a while, to see, to understand your life here…" Ardeth trailed off with a bit of a shrug.

"Maybe." Jana said in response. Ardeth could hear the underlying doubt in her tone and sighed.

"What do you wish for?" He asked at last. Jana laid her hand on his chest, above his heart.

"What do I wish for?" She murmured and then she too sighed. "I wish for things that cannot be." Ardeth gave her arm a little pinch and she squirmed a bit before pinching him back. They both chuckled before Jana turned to look up at Ardeth. "I want everything. I want to stay here with you and our children and I want my parents and brother to be happy." She shrugged. "I know, impossible."

"Hmmm." Ardeth said a bit noncommittally. Jana pinched him again and he gave her a look.

"Well? What does 'Hmmm' mean?" She asked a bit annoyed and he leaned down to kiss the annoyed look off of her face.

"It means that I will talk to the Elders about you being able to keep in touch with your brother somehow. Maybe through letters." Ardeth replied pulling back. Jana sat up with an excited look on her face.

"Really?" She asked and Ardeth smiled at her.

"It has never been done before, but we have never had to face the families of the women who have been taken before either." He said. She slid back into place beside him, her hand back on his chest. They settled together a bit in bed, Ardeth wrapping his arm around her and tucking her into his side.

"Do you think that they would allow it? I know that they aren't really much for change." Jana replied and Ardeth chuckled at her accurate assessment.

"True, but I think that we will end up having to keep your brother here for a bit anyway. The travel season is almost done, and before he can go, the Elders will need to approve our plans." Ardeth said. "Although, I think that my father would allow it now, with no objections."

"Of course. Your father is a sweetheart." She said and turned a bit to kiss him. Being a bit too tired to sit up again, she ended up kissing his side. Ardeth leaned down to kiss her head understanding what she wasn't saying.

"Don't get your hopes up, beloved. Some of the elders will argue to kill your brother." Ardeth tried to break it to her easily, although he guessed that she already suspected this. Her only reply was to let out a deep breath. "I will do all I can to prevent that from happening." He added and they laid together in silence for a bit.

"I know." Jana sighed out at last. Ardeth felt that he could breathe again. "Will he stay with your parents?"

"Yes." Ardeth said. "Since I will be staying here, I thought that my parents were the best, the wisest choice."

"I wish…" She trailed off with a shrug.

"You wish what?" He asked, stroking her arm. She shifted a bit until her chin rested on his chest.

"I wish that Joey could see how wonderful you are." She said with half a smile. Ardeth pulled her up and kissed her lips softly.

"I love you too, beloved." Ardeth said pulling away.

And then, neither of them talked for a long while.

**OOOoooOOO**

The next day, Ardeth went to the Elders to discuss allowing Joey to leave the camp and future correspondence between his wife and her family. He was unusually anxious about the meeting, knowing that it was most likely that the Elders would demand he take the young man out to the desert and leave him there.

The tent of the Elders was surprisingly cool in the heat of the day. There was a long table set up at one side, with grapes and other fruit spread out before the Elders as they ran the business of the tribe. This tent was seldom empty. Usually at least one of the seven Elders was in there attending to the various business needs of the tribe and settling disputes that occasionally arose between their peoples.

The Elders themselves looked nothing like kindly grandfathers. They were all battle hardened warriors. Although their tattoos were faded and a bit unreadable due to the wrinkles on their faces, they were also covered in scars. Some had missing eyes and some had a few fingers missing. This was a forbidding bunch to meet with in the best of times, and this was not the best of times. At Ardeth's entrance, the attention of all seven men turned to him.

"Ardeth, I take it you're here to discuss this young man that you brought back from your patrol." Aasim, one of the oldest Elders asked with a frown.

"Yes." Ardeth answered. He had decided not to answer until he knew more about what was going on; what the Elders were thinking.

"Ardeth, we know that this is an act of the gods," Basir Bey started, "But there are some-" He glanced around at some of the other Elders with a look of half-concealed irritation. "Some who believe that no matter how it came about, the boy should be put to death."

Ardeth's hand flexed involuntarily and his lip curled as he thought about how such a decision would affect Jana. But he remained silent.

"We don't want to hurt your wife; in fact we hold her very dear." Samir started when Ardeth did not answer. Ardeth tried to inure himself to the flattery. "However, we just cannot allow someone not of our blood to leave this place."

"And if even if we did allow him to leave, to allow continuing contact…" Another Elder, Tavi, trailed off with a sigh. Even though the Elders _were_ battle hardened warriors, they began to feel a bit anxious by Ardeth's continued silence. Tavi gestured for Basir to try to get a response from his son.

"Ardeth, I know that this is not what you wanted to hear, but what do you say, my son?" Basir asked a bit tentatively. Ardeth forced himself to relax before answering, assessing how he would face their fears.

"Is your primary objection that he is not of our blood?" He asked at last. The Elders all murmured in agreement.

"Yes," Samir said relieved that Ardeth seemed to understand what they were saying. While they were not afraid of Ardeth, they were afraid of any question that their traditions didn't have answers for. They currently found themselves in that situation.

"Then you have nothing to fear." Ardeth stated boldly.

"Are you saying that he has been marked? That Jana's brother is truly a Med-Jai?" Aasim asked incredulously.

"No, I claim no such truth." Ardeth replied. Even Basir looked a little impatient at this point and Ardeth hurried to explain. "I claim him to be a Med-Jai as he is an Uncle to my children by blood. All know that my children have been raised in the Old Ways, that my family is the family of a Med-Jai Chief, and that my wife-" Ardeth paused to clear his throat, suddenly choked with emotion. "My wife has performed her duty to the tribe and all the Med-Jai with a giving and generous heart." He paused to make eye contact with each of the Elders. His father was giving him a bemused smile and Ardeth took heart in that. "Yes, I claim that this man is a Med-Jai."

They sat in silence for a while. Several of the Elders seemed to be lost in thought. Some of their own mothers, the same as Ardeth's grandmother, had been taken in the last wife-nap. Samir and Aasim seemed to have far away looks in their eyes as they pondered over Ardeth's impassioned plea.

"You raise an interesting dilemma." Yanai said stroking his long grey beard absently. "But if we are to accept your reasoning, then perhaps many of the defilers of Ancient sites we have extinguished were Med-Jai as well."

"I do not believe that would apply." Ardeth replied. He knew that he had to pick his next words very carefully. "Their path had never crossed again with the women who were taken; they never met with or were treated as kin to the children of the union. The case of my brother-in-law is different."

"You claim him as your brother-in-law! Putting him in the same category as your sister's husband? This man is the same as Fahad to you?" Tavi exclaimed a bit incredulously. Ardeth steeled himself; there would be no going back now.

"I do." There was a low murmur as the Elders began to discuss this amongst themselves. Ardeth could tell from their discussion and then the silence that followed that they hadn't been able to reach a definitive answer.

"We shall see, Ardeth." Basir finally said with a sigh. "We shall see how this young man deports himself before we can grant him the rights of a true Med-Jai and allow him to leave our encampment. You know that above all, we must protect the safety of our society and our way of life."

Ardeth didn't say anything, but he bowed and left the tent. He felt as though a weight had settled on his heart. How could he help his brother-in-law when the man wouldn't even talk to him?

**OOOoooOOO**

Although he had been in the camp for over a fair amount of time, Joey could still feel the Med-Jai watching him. He was lucky that he'd always had a way with languages and could communicate with those around him. He tried to shake off the feeling of being watched as he was walked with the twins, his nephews, around the camp. It seemed that Umar and Yousef saw this as an opportunity to wander around the camp to prove their bravery to all their friends by escorting someone found digging at Hamunaptra.

"…And over there is where our friend Abdul lives." Umar said gesturing towards a group of tents; Joey couldn't really distinguish which tent his nephew was pointing at but nodded all the same.

"Don't let Aaliyah tell you he's her friend though, I know that Abdul really likes us better." Yousef added. Joey couldn't help but grin remembering some of the fights that he and Jenny used to have. Growing up together so close in age, they often had mutual friends and would childishly argue over who liked whom better.

"Does your friend Abdul have any other brothers or sisters?" Joey asked, still smiling and remembering his own youth. His smile faded as the twins looked at each other a bit hesitant. "What?"

"Mama said Adbul's mother couldn't have anymore." Yousef said with a shrug. "She never said why."

"Do you know why?" Umar asked and Joey blushed, not really wanting to even attempt to explain any of the many reasons that flitted through his mind as to why a woman wouldn't be able to have any more children.

"Er- that sounds like something that only a woman would be able to explain." He said at last. Umar and Yousef sighed.

"That's what Baba said too." Umar grumbled annoyed. Feeling a slight bit of masculine understanding with his hated brother-in-law, Joey attempted to shrug the feeling off and instead chose to distract his nephews.

"So, what's that over there?" He asked pointing in a random direction. Both Umar and Yousef looked at him like he was severely lacking in intelligence. "What?"

"That's the well!" Umar exclaimed surprised. Joey looked to where he was pointing and sure enough, it was the well.

"How can you not know the _well?_" Yousef scoffed. Joey felt the need to defend his apparent stupidity.

"Well, we don't use wells where I come from." He said and the group started walking in the direction of the well.

"Where do you get water from then?" Umar asked curiously.

"Well, I'm not really sure, but there are pipes that bring the water to your room. You just turn the tap and then the water comes out hot or cold." Joey explained rubbing the back of his neck.

"But how do you guard the water if you don't know where it comes from?" Yousef asked curiously.

"I…guard it?" Joey asked confused.

"Of course!" Yousef continued, pointing to where a couple of younger Med-Jai warriors stood close by the well. "Look! Today Shariff is on well duty." He said and trotted over to the well.

"You have to guard the water." Umar said following after his brother, wondering vaguely why his Uncle didn't know these things that he had always just seen as a normal part of life.

Joey followed them, abstractly recognizing the young man that was guarding the well. He thought that he was one of the warriors who had attacked him at Hamunaptra. Squinting his eyes a little bit, he recognized the other man completely. He was the one who tried to stab him with a knife after he took a shot at Ardeth. Shariff nodded at him and Joey nodded back. Their attention was quickly turned to the twins though as they both plopped down in the shade of the tree that Shariff was sitting by. Shariff laughed.

"You cheeky little monkeys! You know I can't play with you while I'm on duty." He said grinning.

"We just wanted to show our Uncle the well, Shariff!" Umar said looking up innocently. Shariff glanced again at Joey.

"Where is your father?" Shariff asked after a moment of contemplation.

"Dunno." Yousef returned. "Uncle Joe was going to tell us a story."

"I was?" Joey asked grinning and sitting down in the shade looking rather bemused. Shariff chuckled.

"I would do as they say. They are most persistent."

"So I see." Joey said with a bit of a smile. They all sat in silence for a brief moment.

"So will you tell us a story?" Umar asked a bit impatiently. The two adults chuckled again, bonding over the demands that Umar and Yousef seemed placed on them.

"Alright." Joey started but Shariff interrupted him with a warning.

"It had better be a good story, they are very demanding." Both twins looked a bit affronted.

"You tell boring stories!" Umar protested.

"None of the animals talk at all!" Yousef added, and both adults chuckled again.

"Well, let me give it a try…" Joey said smiling and started telling a story that had been his favorite as a child. "In the great forest, a little elephant was born…" The children, and even Shariff, listened enraptured to the story. Finally, Lael, another young warrior came to relieve Shariff from guard duty. "…and they would long remember this great celebration." Joey concluded.

"I can't believe it! They were quiet for at least an hour!" Lael said grinning as he approached the group under the tree.

"Lael! Uncle Joe told us a story about _talking elephants!_" Umar exclaimed.

"It was much better than Shariff's story about the long ride in the desert he took." Yousef added nodding. All three adults laughed at that assessment and Yousef crossed his arms a bit annoyed. "Well, it was."

"I shall try to improve to meet your expectations." Shariff said, grinning, as he got to his feet. "But now I am to go to my tent to rest."

"Well, we should probably get back too." Joey said squinting up into the sky and noticing the sun was much lower than it had been when he started the story.

"But there's still so much we have to show you!" Umar exclaimed jumping up.

"Yeah! You've barely seen anything yet!" Yousef agreed, also jumping. Each boy grabbed onto one of their Uncle's arms and began trying to pull him up.

"Well, why don't you show me on the way back? I bet that your mother is worried about you." Joey said with a laugh as he managed to get to his feet despite their "help". Both boys looked unconvinced by such logic.

"Besides, your mother probably has dinner ready. I think she said that she was going to be making something special tonight." Shariff added. Just then, both twins' stomachs began to rumble.

"Oh, alright. We'll go back." Yousef agreed and, waving good-bye to Shariff and Lael, they led their Uncle enthusiastically back towards their home.

From his position beside one of tents, slightly hidden by the date trees, Ardeth watched, pleased as Joey walked away with the children. They seemed to love him very much already. Over the past few days, most of the Elders had come to him and said that they would accept his claim of kinship with his wife's brother. They had all noticed the boy's attitude and his affection for his sister and her children. Really only old Tavi had neglected to give his support. Ardeth wondered if he could get Shariff to talk Tavi. After all, Tavi was Shariff's grandfather.

**OOOOooooOOOO**

Joey sat by the fire bemused by what his sister had told him a few days ago. When he had first begun to talk to the Med-Jai around the camp, he had been surprised at the kindness he had been shown by the people. Especially by his sister's in-laws; _Ardeth's_ family. Although he was still stiffly silent with his brother-in-law, he had come to respect the people here. Tonight, they were having a feast to send off a supply party on their way to Luxor. The feast was also a gesture of respect to Joey to mark his last night living among the Med-Jai. Jana had just told him that he had been accepted as a part of the tribe.

Joey sat with Suleiman in his lap at the feast that night. He watched as his other nephews and niece seemed to be dancing, or trying to emulate the dancers with their imprecise but charming movements. He could see his sister moving among the people like she had lived there all her life; like she belonged there. He swallowed hard- she did belong here.

"Unc Joe?" Suleiman asked turning around so he could poke his Uncle in the cheek.

"Ow." Joey said out of reflex before looking down at his youngest nephew. "What is it?"

"Why don't you like Baba?" Suleiman asked with a frown on his baby face. Joey sighed. He had been pleased that after being a bit afraid of him initially, Jenny's children had come to like him. But he didn't know how to explain the relationship that currently existed between him and Ardeth.

"It's complicated." He finally answered. Suleiman's frown deepened.

"It makes Mama sad." He said at last. Joey frowned as well.

"Those are serious thoughts for such a little man." He finally answered standing up with Suleiman still in his arms. He tossed his nephew in the air and catching him, causing Suleiman to laugh. "There! That's much better." Joey said with a grin of his own.

"Are you two having fun?" Joey heard a voice behind him ask, and he turned around to see his sister standing behind him with a hesitant smile on her face.

"Mama!" Suleiman cried happily and reached for his mother. Joey leaned over and passed the child to his sister, watching as she smoothed back her youngest's hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

"We're just watching the dance." Joey said with a slight smile, causing his sister to return his smile.

"I wanna go play with Aaliyah." Suleiman said, struggling to get out of his mother's grip. She put him down on the sand and let him run off to where his brothers and sister were. Jana and Joey stood in silence for a moment, just looking at each other.

"You were right…you do have a life here." He said at last. She nodded and he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"You know that I'll always love you though, you and our parents." She swallowed hard. "I could never stop loving you, even though I'm not with you anymore." He nodded and they remained silent.

"Do you- do you think you can at least write? So we know how you are?" He asked at last. Jana made a sound that was half laugh and half cry and launched herself at her brother. He hugged her back, and couldn't hold back a half smile as the unborn baby gave a big kick, causing Jana to pull back with a bit of a laugh.

"I think that means, yes," she said with a grin, not really wanting to think about the precarious position that he had once occupied in the tribe and the way that Ardeth had fought for not only his life, but their continuing contact.

Joey laughed a little and they stood quietly together for a little bit. After a moment, he felt as though someone was staring at him. He looked up to see Ardeth staring over at him and his sister. What surprised him the most was the almost pained look on Ardeth's face. Joey sighed.

"I guess that _Ardeth_ cares for you." He said at last, however, he still managed to put enough spite into pronouncing Ardeth's name that it left little guesswork to wonder how he felt about his sister's husband. Jenny sighed.

"He does, and I have come to love him very much." She said in a low voice. Her brother turned and studied her. She kept her gaze looking out over the fire, but slowly turned to meet his gaze. "I don't know what I can say to convince you, but I wouldn't be happy without Ardeth in my life."

"You have to understand how hard that is for me to hear, to understand." Joey said at last. "I've spent the last eight years hating him; thinking that he took you, used you, then killed you. And that was my best case scenario. I won't go into the other situations I managed to come up with in your absence."

"It will never be like that again. Ardeth will make sure that we're able to stay in touch." She said earnestly. Joey flinched a little bit at Ardeth's name, but managed to keep it together a little bit better.

"I've been thinking and I do understand it a little bit better than before. I mean, he could've just killed me in the desert when he found me; he could've just left me there and let the desert kill me, without having to bloody his hands. But he brought me here instead, ensured I was made part of the tribe, and figured out a way for us to stay in touch. And the only reason that I can think of why he would do any of that is because he wants you to be happy."

"He does."

"As strange as it is for me to think it, he really does love you." He studied his sister out of the corner of his eye and felt the corner of his lip turn up in a half smile. He watched as Ardeth sent a smile to Jana from across the fire and his sister blushed and grinned in response.

"So, do you leave with the warriors to go to Luxor tomorrow?" She asked.

"Yes. Although I would've liked to stay until the birth of your newest, I think it's best if I go back. Mom and Dad will be worrying and I have good news for them…" He trailed off and his half smile turned into a full smile. "I don't want to keep it from them any longer…as short a time as I've been here, they'll want to know the news as soon as possible too."

Jana took a step closer to her brother and hugged him close. She didn't know when she would see him again after they parted ways, but she did know that this separation would be by choice, not by force. Joey hugged her back, not knowing when they would see each other again, but knowing that they _would_ see each other again.

She met her husband's eyes across the fire and smiled at him; her eyes sending him a message more real than any words she said could express- _I love you, my life is here with you._

End.

**OOOOooooOOOO**

**AN: So I know that there are a few open ends, but I really feel like this is the end of the story; life isn't perfect but there is acceptance by all characters on the life that they have- which to me, seems like a perfect place to stop. But in case you're curious, the next baby is the last baby and it's a girl! They name her Margea, which means peace.**

**Also, if anyone was wondering, the story that Joey tells Umar and Yousef is the first story of Babar.**


End file.
